< Unknown Threat (2) >
Tarak, a large city bustling with people every day.
Three men and women strolled leisurely along the well-maintained street in the center.
“···It’s just as I heard from the rumors. I heard that vampires are rampant in the West, and I can definitely feel it now that I’ve come here.”
High elf Lydia muttered as she looked down the alley next to the street.
There, several mercenaries who had just been causing trouble for street vendors were being forcibly dragged in and receiving harsh training.
After that, I’ll probably have to pay a fine for tuition and even donate blood before I can get out.
Lydia turned her gaze away from the alley and brought the buttered corn in her hand to her mouth.
She must have liked it a little, because her green hair, linked to the wind spirit, swayed and danced under her hood.
“It seems that the influence of the neighboring Kingdom of Thalia, where vampires rule, is significant. They say that they received a lot of help from them at the level of the Kingdom Union. Also, Tarak, where the headquarters of Hubert Trading Company is located, is the city that has the most active interactions with vampires.”
As if listening to her words, Issae quietly answered while scanning her surroundings with her blue eyes filled with magic.
In each hand, he held an assortment of skewers and a bottle of drink.
Well well
Odd, odd, odd—
Two women moving their eyes in all directions while also moving their mouths diligently.
While continuing their research on the city, they were also enjoying the unique food culture of this place.
“···Sea, is that black drink that tasty? It doesn’t really suit my taste.”
“It’s the best. I regret not staying longer the last time I came. Oh, I think it was only recently that this started to become popular···?”
At Lydia’s question, Isiah looked down at the drink in one hand with a serious expression.
This was a special menu item that was first sold at the famous Tarak restaurant ‘Dance with Oak’, directly managed by Hubert Trading Company – Cola.
‘I’ve heard that Hubert Trading Company handles Earth products… but I never thought they would be able to do this. What kind of unique skills do they have that allow them to distribute on such a large scale?’
She stuck out her tongue as she thought of the unidentified Awakened person who might belong to the company.
Of course, these products have not yet become fully popular.
Because the supply is limited, there is a limit to the number of items you can purchase per person, and the price is jaw-droppingly expensive.
The price of this small bottle of soda was comparable to a full course meal at a top restaurant, so it says it all.
But such money matters meant nothing to Isiah Pristine, the great archmage of the Death Squad, count of the Azerion Empire, and closest confidant of Crown Princess Riley.
No, considering that you can get a taste of Earth’s culture from this distant otherworld, it was actually an incredibly cheap price.
‘Haa— I think I’m going to die. How long has it been since I last had a cola like this?’
Isae let out a sigh with an expression that had relaxed without her knowing it, and smacked her lips.
It had already been nine years since she had spent time in Outerica.
Next year it will be a full 10 years since it fell to this earth.
In that situation, Cola began to feel very excited as if his rusty head had been oiled with the essence of Earth’s civilization being transfused into his blood vessels.
‘I want to buy a lot in advance and stock up, but it’s a shame that there’s a limit to how much I can buy per day. I wish I could meet the supplier in person sometime.’
If you have this kind of ability, you would be a fairly high-ranking member of Hubert Trading Company, the best merchant in the continent.
Since his identity will also be thoroughly hidden, it will naturally not be easy to meet him.
It was possible that the owner of the company, Hubert himself, was an Awakened being from Earth.
‘I’m sure there’ll be an opportunity sooner or later.’
It would have been another matter if she had revealed her identity and requested an audience, but as a member of a warrior party she was secretly investigating the city and could not have a private meeting with the local leader.
But as she sipped her cola little by little, as if saving it with regret, one thing suddenly crossed her mind.
“···Lord Heinrich. By the way, didn’t you say that Hubert Trading Company also has a close relationship with the Jushin Church?”
Heinrich, who had been leisurely following a few steps behind her, shrugged his shoulders in response to her question.
He was dressed from head to toe in full body armor that could be found anywhere to conceal his dazzling appearance.
“Yes. We help each other in various ways. Above all, Harley was also a co-CEO.”
“···That old man is more capable than I thought. How many hats does he have?”
He is a member of the suicide squad that protects the world, the king of the Kalkos Tribal Alliance, the mercenary king of the mercenary industry, and the co-representative of Hubert Trading Company, the highest-ranking company on the continent.
Even Lydia and Isae were amazed by the unexpected side of this person, who they thought was just a glutton who laughed out loud.
“Anyway, I guess we can’t make exceptions for anyone right now. No one knows what’s in people’s hearts.”
I trust Harley, but I don’t completely trust the group called Hubert & Co. yet.
Besides, wasn’t that story about them being co-representatives from a long time ago?
He couldn’t be sure that his former partner wouldn’t change his mind while he was called up to the suicide squad and traveling around the world.
“Wouldn’t it be most reasonable to be suspicious of those vampires for now? In fact, until just a few years ago, people thought of them as nothing more than monsters?”
“Well, that’s right. Before the vampire king Heinz appeared, their blood-sucking urges were uncontrollable. The lycanthropes, who were treated similarly to vampires, recently attacked our Elven Kingdom and were annihilated.”
After moving to a nearby alley, a midterm meeting began naturally.
Secret barriers had formed around them, completely blocking out any sounds or even movement from within.
“Ah! Of course, I know that Lord Heinrich was active in accepting them, but… Even if the King of Vampires united them all and brought them into the open, there is no perfect control in the world. There could be vampires who have not yet been reformed and are living in hiding….”
“I’m also a little suspicious of Hubert’s Company. As I walk around this city, I can feel that their influence is truly beyond imagination. If there’s a big problem, isn’t it likely that it will be caused by them?”
And the most mentioned things at that meeting were vampires and Hubert’s Company.
Of course, it was only a midterm meeting held shortly after the investigation had begun, so it was more like brainstorming and didn’t really have much meaning, but Heinrich couldn’t help but feel a little offended.
Because he was the Saint Heinrich of the Church of the Holy Spirit, the Vampire King Heinz II, and also the Lord of the Great Council, Hubert.
‘Well, I was planning on taking a vacation anyway, so I’ll just give you a rough idea. I can just place a few cursed items from the Demonic Cult in appropriate places later.’
A few days after arriving in Tarak.
Heinrich split up with the two women, who were full of energy after eating delicious food every day, and each explored the city.
Of course, since the saints were the ones who started this work, they were not the only ones mobilized for the mission.
At that time, the heretic inquisitors of the Shinshu Sect, who had secretly entered through the Tarak Temple, also began to move in the dark.
But because there were so many vampires, their investigation was bound to be sluggish.
Since we can no longer just subdue them like before, confusion continues to arise during the investigation process.
It was inevitable, as it was an ‘unknown threat’ that we didn’t even know exactly what it was looking for in the first place.
Because the Inquisitors were people who had lived their entire lives considering vampires to be their enemies.
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‘···Should we stop here? I feel bad for everyone when I see them struggling in vain.’
It was an evening that was not long before we were scheduled to meet up with our group.
Heinrich found a relatively quiet place and sat there, lost in his thoughts.
If a saint can detect it, it must be a pretty dangerous item, but isn’t it a bit of a waste to use something so powerful for something like this?
‘Yes, I’m going to seal and erase it right away anyway, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent. If I make it of a decent quality and infuse it with Hela’s magic so that it can last for a few days…’
But at that time.
-Saint! I found it!
Lydia’s voice flowed into his ears along with the gentle wind.
-You were a vampire after all! Here at Hubert Trading Company…!
The voice continued in an urgent manner.
But it was cut off abruptly before it could even finish.
‘A vampire? And the Hubert Company?’
Heinrich frowned.
The same was true for Heinz II and Hubert in other places.
“Mullo Brokoslak. Find out the situation of the Tarak dispatchers immediately and report back.”
“The company’s security team should gather at the main building on high alert! Contact each branch in Tarak and check for any abnormalities!”
But the confusion was short-lived.
The two avatars immediately began to move.
And they weren’t the only ones who took action.
Paaaaat—
“Great Blessing: Wings of Radiance”.
A pair of large wings of light spread out from the back of the plain full-body armor along with a brilliant radiance.
Flutter—whoosh!
With a single flap of his wings, Heinrich’s body soared high into the sky.
As he rose high above the city in an instant, his golden eyes scanned the area below, a bright light shining on them.
‘Where are you?’
This is not the Hubert Corporation headquarters building.
Because they were monitoring the situation in real time through Hubert, who was there right now.
As if looking through a microscope, all elements of the city were analyzed at a glance according to conditions and organized in the mind.
‘The beast is a vampire. The location is related to Hubert Trading Company.’
My head is getting complicated.
I never would have guessed that real vampires would be the problem.
And that too in this Tarak that he thought he had a firm grip on!
What the heck is this nonsense?
‘Think later. Solve the problem first.’
As the accident accelerated, time gradually slowed down, but even this fleeting moment needed to be cherished as much as possible.
Lydia Grandwood is the second strongest person in the Elven Kingdom, behind Harris.
He was a talented person who was expected to rise to transcendence in the near future.
Of course, it was never good news that the contact he had attempted was forcibly cut off.
‘Just a little more···.’
But fortunately enough.
He had one ability that he could use in such situations.
The special privilege of “Monarch’s Power” that allows you to check not only the forces under your command but also the status of their members.
Of course, Lydia Grandwood was not a subordinate to either High Elf Harris or Saint Heinrich, so she could not directly determine their location, but this Tarak had many people under his command.
-Hubert Trading Company – Tarak Headquarters
And after mobilizing other avatars in accelerated time and quickly checking their status—.
‘Found it!’
I was finally able to find it.
└Status: Dangerous (Severely injured)
└Status: Confusion, Fear
└Status: Fainted
└······
Just by looking at them, you can tell that they are in crisis.
Moreover, the location information they all shared was also significant.
└Location: Tarak, County of Aonia, Kingdom of Tulk ??? ?? [View detailed coordinates]
Coordinates that are marked with question marks and do not display properly.
This was a phenomenon that occurred only when inside a world where location information overlapped.
‘This is 100 percent!’
The wings of light spread across Heinrich’s back glowed again.
Immediately after, his body fell somewhere like a meteor cutting through the darkness.
Although the exact location was not indicated, he already knew exactly where he was going.
That would be so—.
└Name: Miropa (Hubert Company Sponsor)
└Name: Aaron (Hubert Company Sponsor)
└Name: Raphi (Hubert Company Sponsor)
└······
Because most of the names of those involved in this were very familiar.
One of them in particular was someone I saw every day.
└Name: Diana (Secretary of Hubert Company)
In some ways, this girl could be seen as having been born with the most strange fate in Auterica.
A person who, exhausted by misfortunes that come without warning, is finally able to look forward to tomorrow with hope.
Heinrich, with a stern expression, stormed into one of the Hubert & Co. staff quarters.
Before he knew it, he drew his holy sword and raised it into a giant pillar of light, and using “Space Slash,” he cut down everything that stood in his way.
Swish—
From the sky to a point on the ground.
Everything in the diagonal line where the meteor fell was cut off.
Air, of course, but also sound, light, and···.
Even the thin barriers that divided space and defined one’s own world were gone.
Kwaaaaang—!
The little world came crashing down.
At the same time, the everyday scenery that seemed ordinary from the outside changed in an instant.
An old woman covered in tattoos who has collapsed and vomited blood, a little girl who has fainted in her arms, a boy who is holding them and crying, and citizens huddled together and trembling behind them.
“Saint!”
Lydia, who was standing at the very front and confronting someone, greeted him and shouted.
As if he didn’t expect it to come this quickly.
Heinrich, who had landed on the ground, slowly got up.
At the same time, the wings of brilliance spread wide as if they would embrace the world.
An eagle aura spread out in all directions, embracing the wounded.
‘The author is···.’
The knight of light who had descended to the earth looked at the culprit of this situation with stern eyes.
A young boy standing in front of a girl who had fallen to the floor, glaring at him with a frown on his face as if something had gone wrong.
The face, which looked to be in his early teens, was something Heinrich had seen once before.
Through a montage drawn long ago, not in reality.
“You’ve finally found him. Temiran McClair.”
“Tch! What kind of a case is this? Things go wrong, and now a saint shows up?”
Temiran McClair, a grumbling, harsh-spoken boy vampire who doesn’t match his appearance.
He is the only son of Kayla McClair, Vice President of the Republic of Zephyr, who went missing over twenty years ago.
He was the second apostle prepared by the god who was imprisoned in the abyss.
